My beloved Sydney finally passed after beating cancer for 4 years

This past Sunday, my beloved 16 year old baby Sydney, passed on at 4:03pm after battling and succumbing to an upper respiratory infection. For those of you who remember me, I came on to this blog roughly four years ago, when my beloved Sydney was diagnosed with nasal lymphoma. She completed a 6-month chemotherapy protocol, amongst a million other things, however, beat the odds and lived a happy and healthy life with four years of her cancer in remission. This past month, my other cat Charlie came down with a severe case of pneumonia, which required he be placed in an oxygen tank for several days, IV fluids, and 24 hour surveillance. When it was determined that Charlie had pneumonia - I put Sydney in my bedroom (where Charlie never goes), and preceded to disinfect the entire house. I spent hours and hours scrubbing every surface, trying to prevent Sydney from getting infected. When Charlie came home - he was isolated in another room and provided hourly feedings, etc. to nurse him back to health. Everyone that touched Charlie were required to wash their hands, shower, and change their clothes. Just as Charlie began to improve, Sydney stopped eating. I began feeding her with a syringe to ensure she was getting nourishment, meanwhile, taking her to my vet. My vet ignored my concerns, and told me that I and Sydney were no longer welcome at their facility, because they did not feel comfortable with my husband's and I's questions regarding care. Even though I had spent over $10000 with this facility, they through me and my then sick baby out with no where to go. I considered this to be extremely unethical and it disjointed Sydney's care in the midst of her health crisis. My wonderful husband went straight out and found me a wonderful vet, who provided Sydney more care then Sydney's previous vet had given her in years. Sydney had developed a severe form of anemia, as well as a severe case of hypothyroidism, which caused decreased her immune system stagnating her body's ability to fight off the infection. This was completely ignored by my other vet. My new vet provided me with a complete work up, as well as iron supplementation, IV fluids, three different antibiotics, prednisolone, n-acetylcystine, high calorie food, etc. Sydney was taken care of my by mother and I, 24 hours a day. Despite our continued care, Sydney continued to become weaker and weaker. At this point, we were concerned that the infection and stress she had experienced had brought out the cancer we had worked so hard to put into remission. This past Sunday, my mom woke me up (she was the morning shift), to tell me that she thought my baby didn't have that much longer. At this point, Sydney had lost her ability to walk and was struggling to breathe. I took her into the shower twice to try and open her sinuses, but she just seemed so fatigued from the continued anemia and low thyroid levels. Around 3:50pm, my baby looked at me in my eyes, as if to tell me that she was letting go. My mom and I held her closely to us and kept telling her how much we loved her. Sydney was our companion, our friend, our child, our baby - and she was looking into our eyes and slowly letting go. She gasped for air a few times, but remained calm and listened to our voices and she slowly and peacefully went to the rainbow bridge. This has been the saddest day of my life and I cannot express how heart broken I am to have lost my child. We worked so hard and for so many years to keep her alive, and to have her succumb to a respiratory infection is more than devastating. I feel as if my world has been turned up side down and I am living in this parallel universe that doesn't really exist. I cannot believe she is gone and my mom and I are just shattered that out little baby is no longer here. The house seems so empty, my chest seems so hollow, and I just can't believe I have to live the rest of my life with out my baby. She gave us purpose, she gave us strength, she gave us so much that we will always remember just how special she was. If you are reading this - I hope you can relate to how much we loved our kitty. As our kitties are our family. If loved could have saved you Sydney - you would have lived forever. [Broken hearted - and sobbing profusely]

Sincerely,
Kat

Rest in Peace Baby, Hercules, and Sydney - If love could have saved you, you both would have lived forever!

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." ~Ghandi

We are so sorry to hear about Sydney.
You certainly gave her every chance and did eveything that you could to give Sydney every chance to live.
But sometimes the sands of time are against us and it was Sydneys turn to become an Angel.
I know that All Of Our Awesome Angels Army were waiting for Sydney at Crepe A Licious in Ancaster with Sydneys Wings of Silver and Gold and she can meet all of Our Angels while having her first meal as an Angel.
She misses you so much and will be lookingfor a place where you can all be together gain in Paradise.
One Fine Day

She had a good life, thanks to you, and her legacy will live on, not only in the love you will always carry with you, but in the knowledge you gained while caring for her, and the new vet that will do a great job taking care of any future animals.

Thank you so much everyone for your kind words. It is always so comforting to be around other people who understand what it means to lose a furbaby. I have found that most people look at their pets as just pets, where my family has always treated our pets as family. I hope and pray every day that she is somewhere special - feeling happy and and at peace - knowing that one day I will join her. Your kind words mean so much to me and I truly appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. I have lost touch with Pet Talk, mainly because taking care of Sydney had become a second job. Even after she beat cancer, she was dealing with hyperthyroidism, etc. There were several medications we had to give her every day, twice a day, for the last four years, as well as so many other responsibilities. When we almost lost her the first time to cancer, we tried to do everything we could do to make her life full of love and happiness. You can say - she ran our home. All of our lives revolved around her. I know it is going to take me a long time to get over the loss of her, but I truly hope and believe that one day she and I, and my other babies, will be reunited again. Thank you again for your kind words - as they are a moment of comfort in this very sad and difficult time.

Sincerely,
Kat

Rest in Peace Baby, Hercules, and Sydney - If love could have saved you, you both would have lived forever!

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." ~Ghandi

RIP Sydney

I too lost my beloved friend, Rusty, to cancer (intestinal). We had an extra six months because of his meds and special diet and I feel very fortunate and grateful for that time. His right leg gave out, was completely limp, and I knew then that he had crossed the threshold from being comfortable to suffering. I let him go Christmas Eve, he died in my arms at the vet's office. I was hoping he could die peacefully at home but he had suddenly gone beyond his condition. What I'm saying is I can relate to your pain, but I wish I could say we got an extra four years instead of six months. You are so fortunate you got so much "extra" time with your friend! You took excellent care of her, what more can you do? It was time to say goodbye...that time inevitably comes... Oh, the heartache...I can't help you with that, I too feel it. The day goes fine and then all of a sudden, out of the blue, I think of him and I feel like I got kicked in the stomach. We all know the pain. I'm so sorry you're going through it though. She was such a special member of your family. I believe Sydney and Rusty are playing together, waiting for us...one fine day we'll see them again. I'm sure of it. I just know it in my "knower'!!!

Aotearoa- New Zealand -Kia Ora, Tena Koutou,Haere Mai From the Land of the long white cloud.

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oh my reading your post, just brought me to tears, i am so very sorry to read you have lost your Sydney, what a little fighter Sydney was, just like my Ellie, i know how heartbroken you are right now, and the emotional pain is just too much to bear sometimes,I can only hope we can all bring you some level of comfort here amongst your friends at PT who completely understand your pain and sorrow.

What a wonderful meowmie you have been to Sydney, you did everything you possibly could to prolong his life without suffering, if only there were more people like you out there. RIP beautiful Sydney loved companion of Kat and family,i am thinking of you at this very sad time sending you lots of hugs and sympathy, i know how much it hurts,my sincere condolences to you and your family at the loss of your most precious furbaby.

My Ellie and Ash are waiting to welcome Sydney at the RB, i am sure they will all get along just fine.

Have fun at the Rainbow Bridge,Zara,Rusty, Juliette ,Romeo,sweet Tessa,wee stray and Harvey you all will never be forgotten.

Furangels only lent.
RIP my gorgeous Sooti, taken from us far too young, we miss your beautiful face and purssonality,take care of Ash for us, love you xx000

RIP my beautiful Ash,your pawprints are forever in my heart, love and miss you so much my big boy. (very special thanks to Alysser for my cute siggy)

RIP my sweet gorgeous girl Ellie-Mae, a little battler to the end, you will never ever be forgotten, your little soul is forever in my heart, my thoughts, my memories, my love for you will never die, Love you my darling little precious girl.

RIP lil Benson the Hedgehog, came in to our lives suddenly and for a short time ,but you were loved and cared for and missed.

Katherine, I remember your struggles w/Sydney and how much you loved her. No matter how long we have our furkids, it's never long enough. I'm so sorry that your heart is breaking but it will soon heal and all will be bright again b/c you'll know that Sydney is in a wonderful place and knows no pain. RIP, sweet Sydney and peace to you, Katherine.

Thank you so much everyone. Everyday is a struggle because her beautiful face isn't here. I luckily took lots of videos of her when she was first diagnosed with cancer, because I never knew how long we would have her. I will cherish these videos and pictures till I see her sweet face again. Losing a furbaby is like no other loss - I know with time things will get better, it is just so difficult when you have been fighting so long for her to live. Sydney's health has been on the fore front of my mind for the past 4 years. With her gone - there is this major void. Sadly, my other baby Charlie - had to be rushed to the emergency vet again today - due to breathing issues. I am terrified I am going to lose him too - since it was this URI that caused Sydney's ultimate demise. He is my last baby. These past few months have been so very difficult. Thank you again for all your kind words. As always, you give me hope and peace.